Up Front Scenario JWM/1: Werden's Ambush By Jeff Matthews South of Bairoko Harbor, northern New Georgia, July 1943 American Attacker: 3, 4 (MP), 5 (MP), 9 (BAR), 19, 21, 23, 25, 42 (SR), 43 (SR) Japanese Defender: 1-8, 10-11, 13 (LMG), 14 (MP), 15, 18 (MP), 19-20, 22-24, 27 [NOTE: listing of # (Weapon) indicates the PC is armed with the (Weapon) type instead of their normal weapon (with the corresponding change in CCV). Place the appropriate (Weapon) type counter on the PC at setup.] Defender Sets Up First, Attacker Plays First Number of Decks: 1 No cards are removed from the Action Deck. Special Rules: A.1 Jungle Rules (47) are in effect. Americans are Marines (46). A.2 The Minefield and Pillbox cards are treated as Cower cards. A.3 The Japanese must set up in four groups of 5 men each, with a maximum of one LMG, one MP, and one GL per group (ignore errata on 46.4 Fire Teams for LMGs & crew served weapons). The GLs must set up uncrewed. The Japanese SL must set up in the first position of group A. The Japanese groups start the game in Open Group and therefore are not subject to terrain placement during Prepare for Play. A.4 The Marine Raiders must set up in at least three groups at range 4 or 5 (range must be selected before seeing the initial hand). The attacker sets up all of his groups Entrenched in Brush by using the first Brush cards revealed by a random search through the deck sufficient to house all of his groups. A.5 Both sides are Elite. The attacking SL (Werden) is considered a Staff Sergeant (42.46). A.6 Due to the surprise nature of the ambush the Japanese are not allowed to play concealment to reduce the Fire Strength of any attack for the entire scenario (Exc: CC concealment is allowed, and hence they are NOT considered Cower cards) A.7 The Marine Raiders may utilize the Ambush rules (37.5) as if they were partisans. Due to their high initiative, the Raiders may also utilize free Cower Discard (45.12) just like the Japanese. A.8 Neither side may take Prisoners (32). Victory Conditions: The attacker must have at least 10 more casualty Victory Points than the defender Japanese at the end of the time limit. The defender wins by avoiding the attacker's Victory Conditions. Background: A 10-man patrol from the Scouts and Snipers Platoon of the U.S. Marines, 4th Raider Battalion is assigned to scout a native trail along a ridge toward the Japanese base at Munda. After following the trail for several hours, SL Bill Werden scouting ahead of the patrol returns with news of a 15-20-man Japanese patrol advancing up from Munda. Spreading out his squad in the jungle along the trail, Werden waits for the Japanese to fall into his ambush. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Webster's definition of ambush is "noun: a trap in which concealed persons lie in wait to attack by surprise". Although the "official" Ambush scenario is V, it doesn't seem to have the flavor of what one would expect in a jungle ambush. Where is the heart-pounding suspense of waiting for the moment the trap is to be sprung? The depiction of the U.S. Marines, 4th Raider Battalion's exploits in John McCormick's "The Right Kind of War" has the brutal account of one such jungle ambush and is the inspiration for this scenario. The catalyst for this scenario was the lack of close-range brawling missing in so many scenarios due in part to the long range firepower bias of many players (myself included). The problem with starting at close range is obvious: whoever shoots first has a huge advantage. My solution was to make the advantage an integral part of the scenario design; the attacker needs that first shot to have a chance against the larger enemy force and also to achieve the victory conditions. The biggest complaint from my playtesters was "Too Much Chrome!!!". Granted, anything over four SSRs is probably too much, but I felt they were all needed to create the ambush "feel" of the situation. The next biggest complaint was the scenario is too "dicey", meaning a run of luck one way or the other and the match is over. With only one deck there isn't much I could (or wanted to) do about that problem, it's an ambush: somebody wins -- somebody loses. I do not recommend using this scenario for a rated game (at least not your first time playing), but the playtests have resulted in an almost 50%-50% split. One suggestion for balance would be to bid casualty VPs (+ or - the 10 CVP base) to be the attacker. Hopefully this scenario will provide some enjoyment for those who like close range encounters. There are a couple of subtle points hidden in the design to make it "feel" like an ambush, I leave it to the players to find them (feedback and suggestions are still appreciated). Thanks to playtesters Eric Taylor, Nathan Wagner, John Gibbins, Paul Van Etten, Steve Cook, Bill Broome, Paul O'Connor, Jeff Brown, Brian Devitt, Craig Tenhoff, Steve Vance, and the WRUT 2000 grognards.